Underground chicken house



A. E. KIBBLE UNDERGROUND CHICKEN HOUSE March 29, 1932.

3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 21, 1930 March 29, 1932.

jggtj- 9 A. E. KIBBLE UNDERGROUND CHICKEN HOUSE Filed Feb. 21, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet AFT/IE1? E MBBL E March 29, 1932. KIBBLE 1,851,188

UNDERGROUND CHICKEN HOUSE Filed Feb. 21, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 m I v a jg mg/111111110114! YIIIIIIIIIIIIIfl/I/II/IA'IIK l atented Mar. 29,1932 A I UNITED STATES" PATENTYOFFIGE v I ARTHER KIBBLE, F RENO, NEVADA UNDERGROUND CHICKEN HOUSE Application filed February 21, 1930. Serial No. 430,327.

This invention appertains to animal husarrangement and formation of parts, as will bandry and more particularly to a novel. be herelnafter more specifically described,

chicken house. claimed, and illustrated in theaccompanying V One of the primary objects of my invendraWmgS, 11 1 Whlchdrawings:- tion is the provision ofnovel means for form- Fig re 1 1s a diagrammatic View showing o me hi ken'honseunder ground so as to the layout of the chicken chambers or tune ec'tively use available hillside space for a nels, formed in a hillside or bluff, the hillside chicken ranch; p e or bluff being shown in front elevation.

Another important object of my invention F igure'Z is a vertical section taken on the i is theprovision of a chicken house in the naline 2-2 of Figure 1 showing the layout o ing and egg laying.

ture of tunnels formedin the side of a hill the tunnels or chambers diagrammatically. withnovel means for arranging and forming F1gure-3 is a horizont l s i n taken n the tunnels so asjto. provide independent the line 3-3 of Figure 2 looking in the dichambers for the chicken roost and for feed- IeCtiOII 0f the howing the layout of the' tunnels or chambers in one terrace w Agfurther object of my invention is the g mmatically. I o provision of novel means for forming the igure sis a fragmentary perspective view sides of the tunnel or chamber for the chicken o h fr nt Of a hill or cliff constructed in roost whereby the perches will be effectively accordancewith my invention to provide the 7 1 supported and whereby the sides of the chamchicken house 5 her will form dropping boards below the igure 5 isa fI'OIlt elevation Of 0116 Of the roosts, chicken roostlng chambers or houses formed A further object ofmy invention is the i h Side h h l 1 lifii- 1 provision of novel means for forming the V Figure 6 1s a'longitudinal section through "a laying nests in the feeding chamber, the the Same taken on the line 66 of Figure 5 nests being formed by arranging pockets in king in the direction of the arrows. o the side walls of-the chamber or tunnel. igure 7 is a transverse section through A further object of my invention is the the'same taken on the line 77 of F g 6 provision of means for terracing'the side of looking in the direction of the o 30 a hill and tunneling the terraced face of the igure 8 is a front elevation of one of the hill to form the chambers for the chickens, chicken feeding and laying chambers formed the chambers in the difierent terraces being in the Side of a hill or clifil arranged in staggered relation vso that a ig 9 s a l gi g e tary o strong and durable structure will be had. section through the same taken on the line V 5 A further object of my invention is the 99 of Figure 8looking in the direction of so A V provision ofnovel means for closing the en-v he II' WS v trances tovthe chambers or tunnels soas to F igure10- is a transverse section through 7 form a'complete' house with meansventilatthe chicken feeding and laying chamber, ing the chambers or tunnelsi taken on the line 10-l0 of Figure 9 looking m A further object of my invention is the in the direction of the arrows; V 3:; Provision of means permitting inter-commu- Referring to the drawings in detail,'W e1 nication to bevhad betweensaid chambers and in similar reference characters designate cortunnels. v responding parts throughout the several With these and other objects in view, the views, the letter A generally indicates a hill 45 inventionconsists in the novel construction, o side, which in accordance with my'invention i0 is formed into a plurality of stepped terraces 15, each terrace embodying a horizontal runway, road, or path 16, for a purpose, which will be later described. Each terrace 15 is pierced to provide a plurality of equidistantly spaced tunnels 17 and 18, and it isto be noted that the tunnels 18 are formed relatively longer than the tunnels 17 and that I employ two tunnels 17 between each tunnel 18. The tunnels 17 are formed into roosting chambers for the chickens while the tunnels 18 are formed into feeding and laying chambers for the chickens. I prefer to connect all of the chambers together by suitable passageways 19 which extend longitudinally of the hillside and transversely of the chambers adjacent to the front and rear thereof. If preferred, the rear ends of the tunnels 18 can be divided from the front portions thereof so as to form rear storage chambers for the chicken feed and if preferred certain of the chambers 18 adjacent to their rear ends can be connected together by a transverse chamber 20 which may constitute a cold storage chamber. It can be seen that the chambers or tunnels 17 and 18 open out on the horizontal paths 16 which form open air runways for the chickens and further these runways can be used as roads if desired.

Referring more particularly to Figures 5 and 7 inclusive, wherein I have shown in detail the chambers 17 which form the roosting chambers, it is to be noted that the chambers are provided at spaced points with roof joists 21, the end of which may be anchored in the side walls of the chamber 17 and these roof joists 21 can be further supported by uprights 22 of the desired size if preferred. These joists 21 can support roof boards23, if desired. In accordance with my invention I arrange a substantially central walk 24; in each chamber 17 and have the sides of the chamber on each side of the walk inclined downwardly in opposite directions toward the walk as indicated by the reference characters 25 and 26. In order to form the roost for the chickens in the roosting chambers I provide at spaced points transverse stringers 27 which are laid on the inclined walls 25 and 26 and secured to these stringers are the longitudinally extending perches 28. The front end of the chambers 17 are closed by suitable walls 29 which can be formed of any desired material, such as boards and timbers and the walls 39 are provided with swinging doors 30 and 31. The doors and windows are provided with glass panels so as to insure the entrance of light into the chambers. At spaced points I provide ventilating pipes 32 which extend through the terraces into the chambers 17 and the upper ends of the pipes 32 can be provided with ventilating cowls 33.

Referring now, more particularly, to Figures 8 to 10 inclusive, wherein I have shown in detail the chambers 18 constituting the feeding and laying chambers, it will be noted that I also provide roof joists 35 at spaced points, the ends of which are anchored in the side walls of the chamber and these roof joists can support roof boards 36. The roof joists can be further supported by uprights 37 of the desired size.

In accordance with my invention, I provide rows of pockets 38 dug into the side walls of the chambers 18 and these rows of pockets constitute laying nests. In front of each row of nests I provideboards 39 which constitute entrance walks to the nests. These boards 39 can be supported by suitable brackets 40 secured in any desired way to the side walls of the said chambers. If preferred, the floors of the feeding chambers can be strewn with straw 41 which can be swept out at different times for the sake of cleanliness. The front ends of the chambers are closed by front walls 42 which can be in the nature of suitable panels provided with lasses for admitting sunlight. Certain of the panels can constitute doors to act as entrances to the chambers or tunnels. These chambers 18 are also provided with ventilator pipes 43 which extend into the chambers through the terraces.

Referring again to the diagrammatic showing in Figure 1 and also Figure 4 it is to be noted that the chambers 17 and 18 in the different terraces are staggeredly arranged relative to one another for the purpose of structural strength.

From the foregoing description, it can be seen that I have provided novel means for forming chicken houses in the sides of a hill or cliff and this arrangement, by actual experiment, has proven especially successful in the soft chalk cliff or hills in the state of Nevada.

Changes in details may be made without departing from the spirit or the scope of this invention, but

What I claim as new is:

1. An underground chicken house formed in the side of a hill, consisting of a plurality of stepped terraces providing paths, said terraces beng tunneled inwardly of the aths for providing chambers, said chambers eing provided with pockets in the side walls thereof to provide nests, transversely extending roof joists for bracing the roof of said chambers and having their ends anchored in the side walls of the chambers, ceiling boards placed upon the joists and engaging the top wall, uprights engaging the joists intermediate the ends thereof for bracing the joists, and means for closing the entrance to said chambers.

2. An underground chicken house formed in the hill side, consisting of a plurality of step-like arranged terraces to provide a plurality of paths, the hill side being provided with a plurality of tunnels extending directly from said terraces andpaths, said tunnels comprising chambers having pockets formed in the sides thereof to provide nests, the chambers extending from one terrace being arranged in staggered relation with respect to the chambers in the next adjoining terrace, Ventilating means extending from one chamher up through the terrace arrangedjust above the chamber, bracing joists extending across the roof of said chambers and having their ends anchored in the side Walls thereof, means for bracing said joists intermediate their ends, a removable front wall fitting in the front end of said chambers and constituting a closure therefor, and doors adapted 0 normally close the entrance to said chamers.

In testimony whereof I aifix my signature.

ARTHER E. KIBBLEQ 

